Returned
by SRona58
Summary: Another post Infinity War piece. Pepperony fluff. Won't give too much away in case of spoilers. One shot.


WARNING: Infinity War spoilers! Just a short thing I tossed together. Pepperony fluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or story lines. All belong to Marvel. Shout out to RDJ for stalking my social media accounts a few weeks back...you have no idea how much those reposts and favs mean to me. :)

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I don't even remember how it happened. How they disappeared. When he did it. One second they were there and one second they were just...dust. Parker. The kid. In my hands. Ashes. Quill. Strange. And shit, when we made it back here to this empty planet...Pepper.

Gone. That stupid ring I held on to for so damn long was just lying there on the floor, in the hallway down to our bedroom in the tower. We were supposed to have dinner downtown. Away from the Avengers. We were supposed to be _married_. Fuck, I finally decided I wanted to have a kid. And for what? For her to be ripped away from me. For her to...leave behind this diamond. As what, a memory? A reminder that I couldn't save her? That I couldn't save the rest of the universe? I'm supposed to do that, right? Be their protector. Be the one they look toward when some giant purple grape comes knocking at our door with his army of wizards...

"Did we do it?" Steve's voice echoes from somewhere in the back of my mind; I'm too damn focused on the painful spike sticking through my shoulder to listen. "Stark! Did we win?"

He sounds confused.

I look up to the blowing of papers across the New York streets. The quiet rumble...that familiar silence that occurred on Titan. But I hear birds. And voices. And I don't know what's changed, but it's something.

"The gauntlet," I say quickly, tugging the the piece of metal from the suit and patching myself up just like I did on Titan. "Where's the gauntlet?"

"Marvel has it," Rogers informs me, looking at the sky.

Shit, how long was I out? "Is it gone? Did we kill him?"

"Thanos is dead, like he should be," Nebula speaks up from somewhere behind me.

My eyes widen as I suck in a breath and force myself onto my knee before standing. "And the stones?"

"Destroyed," Banner confirms.

I glance at Lang, who's sitting on his ass with a beat up leg...eating orange slices? Yeah, that dimension brought some weird shit. But then when I meet Roger's eyes again, my heart starts to race and I realize it.

"We won," I whisper.

I materialize the helmet back over my face and bring up Friday, who is thankfully still online. Then, the jets are powered and I'm on a flight path, streaking through the New York streets toward Queens...toward the familiar two bedroom apartment I visited too often.

When I land on the fire escape, the window's open. I retract the suit and angle myself inside, stepping around the bedroom lightly. The case to his suit is still sitting beside his bunk bed.

"Hey, anyone home?" I call. "May? May, it's Tony! Tony Stark."

Yeah, as if she didn't know. She gave me enough hell in the past few months to last a lifetime.

When I round the door frame, I hear movement in the living space, and I let my guard completely down when I see them. They're hugging. May's...hugging Peter. Peter's...the kid's there. Not dust. He's...

"Kid!" I call, stepping into the room and alerting them of my presence. "You're alive."

"I'm back, Mr Stark," he answers, pulling away from May, who has tears glistening in her red eyes.

"Fuck, Pete..." I reply, shaking my head in relief. "You're staying home next time. You got me?"

I don't know what else to do right now besides lecture him. May's killing him with kindness, which they both deserve, and I'm not about to interrupt. Thankfully, this gives me hope, and I promise to be back to fill him in, but there's someone more important to see right now.

After a short trip, I land on the tower's balcony, hesitantly retracting the armor once again. I don't give myself hope...even if the kid's back, maybe that's just a fluke. Just...something that shouldn't have happened. Still, part of me is hoping...praying for her to be safe. For any of the others to be safe.

"Good news," I speak into the earpiece, connected to the rest of the team. "Parker's good."

I hear a heavy sigh of relief from who I'm guessing is Steve, but he doesn't speak as I enter the living space and cautiously inspect.

"Shit, they let your ass live?" I hear, and I immediately connect the voice to Sam.

I close my eyes, more relief coming over me as it seems more and more probable that...somewhere in this tower...I'd find her.

"Hey!" I snap back playfully. "This ass just brought you back from the dead. Show some respect."

"Yeah, yeah..." he mutters.

"Stark, any word on-" Steve begins, but I tune him out, because when I enter the kitchen, there she is.

"Pepper," I breathe, the name dropping off of my tongue.

She turns to me and visions of what happened on the oil rig back with the mandarin come back to me. The fear in her eyes, the confusion... How she's breathing quickly and scared. But, she's here. She's alive.

"Tony!" she gasps, looking up from inspecting her hands to make sure she's really grounded.

I let my shoulders drop and exhale before approaching her and pulling her into a tight hug, my arms wrapped firmly around her torso.

"God, Pepper..." I kiss her hair desperately, planting it on whatever part of her head I find first. "I missed you so much."

"Tony, what happened?!" she asks quietly, still too stunned to hug back.

I kiss her shoulder, then move to grab her by both cheeks and press my lips to her in a sound kiss. No funny business, just...relief. My stomach's tight and I feel like crying, but not when she's so afraid.

"We won, Pep. It's a long story, but we won. And I am so sorry for leaving you, babe. So, so sorry," I rant when I pull away and brush her bangs aside with my thumb. "Shit... Sweetheart, you had no idea what you did to me. Coming back and you weren't here and..."

"Tony, I lost the ring," she interrupts, concern plastered across her face as her hands shake.

I lean my forehead against her and chuckle...of course she's worried about everything but how the fuck she was suddenly...reborn? I don't know. From my pocket, I draw out the ring, then steady her hand and put it back on her finger, where it should be.

"I'm done, Pep. I'm never leaving you again, I swear.

And with that, I rip the core from the arc attached to my chest, letting the light fade and leaving nothing but the cool metal frame behind. I'll have to remove that later.

"Tony-" she whispers at my action, but I don't let her say anything else...yet.

"No more suit. No more Iron Man. No more Avengers... Just you and me, babe. We'll have the wedding next month and we'll fly all of your family in and -"

"Tony!" she repeats, a little louder this time, catching my attention.

I meet her blue eyes, which are turned down in worry and what I mistook as confusion. My mouth parts slightly, narrowing my own as I silently question what the hell could be so important.

Then, a smile tugs at her lips. "I'm pregnant."

I blink and tilt my head, trying to comprehend. "You're... Okay, back up a step. You're really...you're-"

"I'm pregnant, Tony," she smiles, biting her bottom lip as she waits for me to accept it. " _We're_ -"

"Expecting..." I finish, my brow pressed together.

Shit, was she before? Or...is this new, or... My mind races, trying to figure out when the last time we could've conceived would've been. I have absolutely no idea how time travel or infinity stones or repopulation works in this scenario, but...

Finally, it hits me, and I my eyebrows raise, my mouth hanging open in surprise and...happiness. Yeah, that's the word, I think. I don't really know its meaning anymore, but this sure feels like it. It's enough to make me let out a genuine laugh, then give her another big kiss, urgently searching for some kind of connection.

When we part, she's still smiling, her eyes glistening. Talk about a lot to take in...

"I told you I had a dream about it!" I add excitedly.

"You were right," she admits, apparently being able to remember everything from before, which is even more impressive.

Normally, I would mention something about that statement...that I was right. She doesn't admit that often. But in this moment, there's no reason or time to go there.

"Oh...this can't be good," I hear, and shit, I guess I forgot to turn off my earpiece.

I don't care. I ignore Bruce, followed by the congratulations from Rogers, Nat, and the rest of the team, and kiss my fiance again, grinning against her lips.

"Morgan. We decided Morgan?" I ask after another break.

She giggles and places her hands on my chest. " _You_ decided Morgan," she lectures. Then, after a moment, "...but I'll consider it."


End file.
